Daskalos, "The Magus of Strovolos," given the pseudonym of Spyros Sathi in three books by Kyriacos Markides, was in real life a Greek Cypriot civil servant by the name of Stelios (Stylianos) Atteshlis. He as a spiritual healer, and he devoted his long life (1913 - 1995) teaching the truth, Erevna, as he found it within Christian mysticism and Indian philosophy. He effected a number of successful spirit release and rescue procedures within his practice, through different forms of exorcism, varying them to comply with the patient's belief systems. After freeing the patient, he sent the offending spirits on into appropriate levels of the spirit world, rather than simply casting them out, as Catholic exorcists seem to do. He naturally aroused a lot of opposition from the orthodox church and from the medical profession, so he created his own organization for the protection of his work and his assistants and students.

One researcher who studied his work was another Greek Cypriot, Kyriacos
Markides, who had emigrated to the USA in 1960 and later became Professor of Sociology at the University of Maine. He returned to Cyprus in the late 1970s and early 1980s and devoted many vacations and a sabbatical year studying Atteshlis, who by now was a grandfather and retired from the Civil Service, living frugally on his government pension. He was a tall, kindly man with a sense of humour, with painting and classical music as his hobbies. Not the image of a mad satanic dabbler in the occult which the church had depicted him as being. Markides reported his findings in three books, "The Magus of Strovolos," "Homage to the Sun" and "Fire in the Heart." Published by Penguin /Arkana Books. He then moved on to study the spiritual philosophy taught in the Greek Orthodox monasteries in Cyprus and mainland Greece.

I will review a case mentioned in his first book which dealt with the release of
two Nazi spirits, thought by the patient's family to be demons. As a matter of
interest, Daskalos (Atteshlis) told Markides that they had known each other in
four previous incarnations. They had been in the midst of political turmoil,
not only now in Cyprus, during the British and Turkish occupations, but earlier
in India, in Spain during the reign of Queen Isabella, and during several
incarnations in Tibet. [I am particularly interested in Markides' writing,
both about Daskalos and about Archbishop Makarios, who had consulted Atteshlis, and the struggle for independence and the later Turkish invasion in 1974, since when I was attending Saltley College in Birmingham in 1957, I met students who had been in the British Army out there, and some Greek Cypriots and a Turkish Cypriot. They all had different sides of the story to tell. RR.]

Late in August, 1978, Markides went to Cyprus to meet Atteshlis for the first
time, though he had known of his reputation since childhood. Maro, a friend of
the author's sister asked if he would arrange a meeting with Daskalos on
behalf of some friends of hers. "They were Jewish," Markides writes*,
"and just arrived from Israel. Their daughter was having severe
psychological problems. The medical doctors could do nothing and they had
resorted to many psychiatrists but to no avail. The girl, I was told, was quite
normal until one night when she dreamed of demons tormenting her. Since then, she heard their voices and saw them in her dreams. She desperately needed help because her situation was deteriorating. This girl had come to Cyprus with her mother to visit an aunt. Maro asked whether it would be possible for me to arrange a meeting with Daskalos that very day.

After several phone calls I managed to locate Daskalos. We made an appointment for eleven thirty. By that time, he said, he would be through with his errands. Maro arrived at our house with her friends shortly before the meeting with Daskalos. She introduced me to the three Jewish women, mother, daughter and aunt. They spoke broken English and, given their apparent uneasiness, carrying on a conversation with them was not easy. The girl appeared norma but I noticed deep anxiety and sadness in her face.

It took us only fifteen minutes to drive to Daskalos' house. Daskalos was with Loizos, one of his close students who was studying medicine at
the University of Athens. I asked the three women to introduce themselves.
Then I briefly explained to Daskalos the nature of our visit. He made himself
comfortable in his armchair and looked at the girl intensely.

"You have a talisman on you," he said, "right at the heart. It is a
six-pointed star."

I saw the faces of all three of the women lighting up. The girl's mother, in
her heavily accented English, noted that underneath her daughter's dress, at
the spot where Daskalos mentioned, there was, in fact, a talisman in the shape
of David's star made for her daughter by a Jewish rabbi. This demonstration
of psychic power by Daskalos apparently established in their eyes his
credibility as a healer. He then asked Hadas, the girl, to describe to him what
happened. With the help of her mother and aunt she explained that whenever "they" come she felt that they took her soul away and that her body was dead. Whenever this happened she experienced pains in her stomach and in the back of her head. "I am abnormal," she concluded, "these demons will not let me rest for a single moment."

"How can you say you are abnormal," Daskalos interjected, "when you
explain to me what happens to you in such a lucid and comprehensible manner?"

"This is what her mother believes," said the aunt with excitement. "It is
all in her imagination."

I noticed that Daskalos was not impressed with this diagnosis of the girl's
predicament and continued asking questions.
"Did you ever ask these spirits who they were and what they wanted from
you?"

"No, I did not," Hadas replied.

How old are you?

Twenty-six.[ Actually, she did not look to me more than twenty. ]

What is your religion?

Jewish.

Close you eyes, please. [She apparently did not understand what Daskalos
said and her aunt interpreted his words in Hebrew. Hadas showed eagerness to cooperate and closed her eyes while Daskalos focussed on her face. In a few seconds she opened her eyes and Daskalos began to talk again.]

If you want me to help you, you must tell me whether you genuinely believe in God or not.

I do, I do,[the girl replied in earnest.]

Good! I could not have helped you otherwise.[Daskalos then offered his
diagnosis of the problem.
Your daughter, [he said to the mother,] is not suffering from demonic
possession. [He then looked at me and continued] Neither is she possessed
by elementals. [ Finally addressing himself to Hadas he said] Those you see
and whose voices you hear tormenting you are not illusions. They are human
beings. They are Nazis. [I saw horror expressed in the faces of the three Jewish women.] They are two spirits, husband and wife, who died during the
bombardment of Hamburg by the Allies. They took part in the Holocaust and
physically tortured a great number of Jews. When they departed to the other
world they carried with them their hatred for Jews. So they managed to get
possession of you at a time when their vibrations and yours were on the same
frequency. The husband took possession of your solar plexus and the woman your second chakra. But they have not been able to take over the chakra of your brain. They have managed to send to the asylum four other Jewish women. But you need not be afraid because today we will cut the connection and send them away. Since your religion is Jewish we
will do the exorcism in accordance with the Jewish Cabbala.

Daskalos then asked Loizos to go upstairs to the bedroom and fetch the White Eagle, a small statue Daskalos kept at his bedside. It was Daskalos' symbol of white magic, a very ancient mystical symbol, I found out later. Loizos was also instructed to bring along a silver six-pointed star, a gift to Daskalos from a Jewish mystic. In its centre there were inscriptions in Hebrew of the Ten Commandments Daskalos told Loizos that on his chest holding on his return to the living room he should have his hands crossed over this chest holding on one hand the White Eagle and on the other the six-pointed star. He also told Loizos not to utter a word while holding the two objects in that fashion.

Loizos went upstairs and Daskalos began his preparations. He first lit a white
candle and filled a glass of water which he placed on the table next to the
candle. Then he got a piece of white paper and markers of various colours. He
went into the Sanctum and brought back the Unpointed Sword, kissed it and placed it over the paper. When Loizos returned, looking sombre and silent just as he had been told, Daskalos took the statue, placed it next to the candle, and held the six-pointed star with his other hand.

Come forward, [he said to the girl. She stood up and came close to the
table.]

Can you read Hebrew? - Daskalos asked.

Yes - said the girl softly. Then Daskalos extended his arm and held the
six-pointed star firmly in front of her face. He asked her to read aloud the
Ten Commandments. After she had finished, he gave her the six-pointed star and told her to sit down and hold it with her right hand tightly over her heart.

The girl repeated it in a broken voice. I noticed a look of awe in the eyes of
the other two women upon hearing the Hebrew words.

Daskalos then sat in front of his desk, kissed the Unpointed Sword, and asked
Hadas to do likewise. Then he asked her to begin a prayer she knew in Hebrew. While she recited her prayer, Daskalos continued to murmur Shalom Alehem, Shalom Alehem, and using the Unpointed Sword and a red marker he began to draw several lines that appeared to me like several six-pointed stars, one almost on top of the other. His movements were slow and determined. After a few minutes he stopped murmuring Shalom Al hem and began talking slowly while still drawing the red lines. I could not make out what he was saying. I could only see his lips moving. Loizos was standing behind Daskalos and joined in murmuring monotonously Shalom Alehem while his eyes were fixed on Daskalos' drawings. Hadas continued her prayer, held the six-pointed star firmly against her chest, and focused her gaze on the flame as Daskalos had instructed her to do. I noticed the other two women were sitting on the couch next to each other holding firmly
each other's hand and watching with watery eyes what was going on. It was an emotional scene. At that moment Daskalos appeared more like a rabbi than a Greek Cypriot medicine man. By following Jewish mystical procedures he apparently eased the tension of the Jewish women, making it easier for them to participate meaningfully in the healing session. I suppose had the girl been a Muslim he would have followed Sufi methods to accomplish the same task.

No, you are not Christians. You are swine. No pity on you, - he said in
English with a loud severe voice, while concentrating on the flame and moving
his hands around it. The flame was behaving in a rather strange manner. I had
noticed this procedure on several occasions. Daskalos would concentrate his
eyes on the candle and from a distance, usually two to three feet away, he
would move his palm rapidly left and right in a trembling fashion. As he was
doing this, the flame would become thin and elongated, black smoke flying away from its tip. Then it would shrink and vacillate violently. The flame appeared to respond to Daskalos' hand movements. Subsequently he would bring his palm forward and pass it over the flame as if trying to grasp it. He would then open his fist right over his drawings as if throwing something onto the paper, murmuring words no one could hear.

Daskalos shook his head disapprovingly while focusing and working on the
candle's flame. "They are stubborn," he said, as if to inform his
audience of the difficulties he was facing. "No, you are not Christians,"
he repeated loudly and severely, "I am Jewish now! Shalom Alehem."

Daskalos spent about twenty minutes working with the flame, a rather long period in comparison with other times that I had witnessed similar procedures. When he stopped I saw an expression of relief and satisfaction on his face. I also observed that the moment he stopped working with the flame it became still.

Hadas continued to repeat her prayer and Daskalos folded the white paper in the shape of a triangle. He then placed the edge of the folded paper over the
flame, setting it on fire. Loizos, who was still murmuring Shalom Alehem, 
took the special container until it burned completely. Daskalos then asked the
girl to put out the flame herself and then drink of the magnetized water.

"You have nothing to worry about from now on," he declared authoritatively. "They can no longer harm you or anyone else. Both of them are now gone to a place where they can rest in peace until they come to their senses. You maystill feel heavy in the head but do not worry. They are the aftereffects that will gradually go away. But they can never again take possession of your aura. They may try to affect you telepathically but they cannot take possession of you. If you feel them near you, just say the prayer you have been saying here and concentrate on the flame of the white candle. The moment you do that they will be scared and will go away."

Then Daskalos returned to his armchair. He looked tired. Little Marios, his
three-year-old grandson, who had in the meantime come into the room, climbed on Daskalos' lap and rested his head on his grandfather's chest. Daskalos began stroking the boy's head. After a few moments of silence he said to the three women who sat there looking overwhelmed, "It is amazing, is it not? People carry their hatreds even beyond the grave."

Daskalos refused to accept any payment for his services. He remarked, "I
don't understand how a psychotherapist could ask for money for something
which is not his, the life-giving ether of the Holy Spirit. You have been
freely given, you should freely give," he concluded. The three women stood
up, thanked Daskalos, and we all left.

When Markides visited Daskalos a week later, he found that Daskalos was not
surprised to hear that Hadas was now quite well. He knew that she had been
cured.

"It is a case," Daskalos began, "which I have encountered on several
occasions. So far six or seven Jews, men and women, have come from Israel so that I could free them from 'possession.' In this case we are dealing with
humans who died and who, during their lives, had relentless hatred against
certain people or situations and who failed to make a complete transition to the psychic world. Instead they found themselves oscillating between the etheric of the gross material world and the psychic world. They thus found themselves in a position that allowed them to come in touch with this world. The way they do it is by taking possession of a human being who lives here on Earth and has certain phobias or is in a certain psychological state that permits these spirits to enter the person. Possession, be it by a demon, an elemental, or a departed human, can take place only if there are reasons, that is, when the individual vibrates analogously [on the same level] with whoever or whatever tries to enter him. In other words, the person must himself have the predisposition to hurt. That girl had certain phobias that, had they been left unchecked, could have grown and hurt certain people.
Therefore, for possession to take place, the seed of something similar must
exist in the one to be possessed. These Nazis tried gradually and in stages to
get possession of the body of this girl, and they succeeded. These spirits
were pushing her to self-destruction. You see, they were not elementals of her
own making that left her and then came back to her [like a Tibetan tulpa]. Nor
were they elementals of black magic sent to her by someone who wanted to harm her. So, as you see, possession can be by demons, by humans that have departed, or by elementals. The most difficult type of possession to cope with is by departed humans. They have a peculiar persistence. It is not easy to send them away. And you cannot destroy or dissolve them. They are eternal beings and cannot be destroyed.
That's where the difficulty lies. For example, I can and I have the right to
destroy and dissolve an elemental, no matter how powerful and terrifying it may be. In this case did you notice the persistence of those spirits? Did you not notice that they refused to leave her? I would get them out of her and then they would return. I had a hard time passing them through fire."

Markides remarked that he was not clairvoyant, and so had not seen any of this. But he had noticed the flame moving. "Is that why the flame behaved in such a strange manner?"

"Yes. I was trying to pass them through the element of fire so that I could
isolate them and then thrust them into Erevos. That is a form of psychonoetic
abyss which is not punishment but a necessary condition similar, I would say, to oblivion where their memories will be erased so that when they return to
consciousness they will not remember anything. You will see that what separates the various worlds, the etheric of the gross material, the psychic [astral] and the noetic [the mental realm or play of the mind] is the veil of Erevos or abyss [Lethe]. When one enters there one ceases to remember, reflects no impression, yet one knows that one exists. Quite often human beings enter there during deep sleep. The ancient Greeks called it 'The Dregs of the Water.' It is a necessary condition to force human spirits that vibrate satanically, so to speak, to forget."

To be continued, with more explanations from Daskalos, and Hadas, the Jewish girl, describes the onset of her symptoms, before she came to Daskalos to be cured.

* Reviewed from "The Magus of Strovolos" by Kyriacos Markides. Penguin/Arkana Books, 1985.